The subject matter discussed in the background section should not be assumed to be prior art merely as a result of its mention in the background section. Similarly, a problem and the understanding of the causes of a problem mentioned in the background section or associated with the subject matter of the background section should not be assumed to have been previously recognized in the prior art. The subject matter in the background section may merely represent different approaches, which in and of themselves may also be inventions.
Plant cultivators have found that one can manipulate the growth of plants to conform to a particular growth pattern. One cultivation technique for enhancing growth is called training the plant. Training typically involves bending an element of a plant in order to determine the manner and direction in which the plant grows. For instance, cultivators find that the yield of a particular plant is directly related to the plant's exposure to the light source upon which the plant is dependent for photosynthetic processes. One may train a plant to change configurations in order to improve a plant's light exposure.
Implements used to manipulate the plant may include strings and stakes. Strings and stakes can be quite cumbersome and may be difficult to adjust with plant growth, as the plant growth shifts all of the ties, often requiring consistent cumbersome reconfiguration. Stakes and strings often run into one another causing tangling and confusing knots that can contort a plant inappropriately.
Also, plants may become damaged during the course of growth. In fact, cultivators often intentionally cause damage to plants in order to better effectuate eventual yields. For instance, many engage in the practice of cracking, where the plant limbs are twisted in order that the fibrous elements within the plant element break and are forced to reform to create a stronger plant element. Cracking can even lead to severing of a plant element if a cultivator is not careful. There is little recourse for someone who wishes to reattach two severed plant elements. The stakes and strings may be sufficient for rudimentarily recombining the branches, but the stakes and strings are too cumbersome to use for the purposes of reattaching severed plant limbs and may not create a flush junction between the severed plant elements. Others have tried wrapping the two elements to make the elements merge, but the wrapping does not create the best junction, can cause rotting of the branch, and does not accomplish the goal of manipulating the plant growth in a particular direction.